Personally I use the 10' x 20' carport tents, usually 2' and good quality ratchet ties to rebar. Use 3' rebar, and pound down to leave about 16" above ground. Be certain to cover rebar tips to prevent accidental injury late at night. I use a porous wall fabric, usually a thermal type blanket so the wind resistance is lessened, but the dust is kept down.. Be sure you attach all parts of the structure to each other. Ue the cotter pins, or as we do, use gaffers tape on all joints. Use the bungie connectors to hold on the cover.

Do not try to use cheap ratchet ties, they will stretch and tear. But good quality ones, tightened a few times over the first day or so, will give you a structure that will not move, no matter what. We use a ratchet tie for each vertical post, even the inside ones. The hard part is investing in them the first year. But good quality ones will last a very long time!

Any wind that lifts a structure tied down like this will also move cars...so I think your safe!

On the top of my rebar I put pieces of those kids' floating "noodles". That way the piece of rebar was padded. They can be purchased at any dollar store and one will cut into several sections. Hey, you professional (or at least experienced) BM builders. What is the most successful method for a center upright of a large shade tent? I thought of our basketball hoop, but the weight is prohibitive. What works?

mamasharon wrote:On the top of my rebar I put pieces of those kids' floating "noodles". That way the piece of rebar was padded.

Or you can buy the plastic rebar impalement caps that OSHA makes construction sites use when vertical rebar is present. Cheap and effective.

I personally candy cane my rebar and drive it all the way down so the top of the cane is flush w/ the playa surface. That way there is no impalement hazard and also the ratchet stap/tie down can be hooked vertically to limit trip hazards.

mamasharon wrote:On the top of my rebar I put pieces of those kids' floating "noodles". That way the piece of rebar was padded.

Or you can buy the plastic rebar impalement caps that OSHA makes construction sites use when vertical rebar is present. Cheap and effective.

I personally candy cane my rebar and drive it all the way down so the top of the cane is flush w/ the playa surface. That way there is no impalement hazard and also the ratchet stap/tie down can be hooked vertically to limit trip hazards.

If a person were to fall on rebar with said noodle on it, there would be blood. Rebar would cut through that stuff like butter, you would be better off wrapping the rebar with a-lot-o duct tape or better the above mentioned osha caps. Noodles probably would protect you from grazing wounds, but not a fall. Last year woke up to some newbies next to us that had no idea what they were doing with that stuff, their whole camp was set up with meat-hooks around everything. After chatting with these guys for a while I had to go ahead a school them a bit. Hey, I didn't want their blood on my hands..

catinthefunnyhat wrote:Good idea... kind of like a lighthouse. And Centre Camp is probably a good place to head to if you're lost and/or in need of help, generally.What colour of light best cuts through a dust storm. Is it amber, as with fog, or something else?

Blue airport lights. They are what was found to be most efficacious for lighting the porta-potties in open-playa. DPW thinks about this a lot.

[quote="mamasharon"]On the top of my rebar I put pieces of those kids' floating "noodles". That way the piece of rebar was padded. They can be purchased at any dollar store and one will cut into several sections.[/quote]

Noodles...great idea! I just borrowed two from the local seniors water aerobics class at the local YMCA pool...

Don't bore your friends with all your troubles. Tell your enemies instead, for they will delight in hearing about them.

Baddawg (PWR-TC adjunct masterbuilder for TC) used noodles for exposed vertical rebar surface and tennis ball tops. Racquet balls will work as will dog toys ( a great place to use up those chewed up dog toys or ones from Goodwill / thrift shops). Jelly dongs will work but may result in "squatters". They actually improve protection from injuries but get noisy every once in a while.

He's a mystery wrapped in a riddle, inside an enigma, painted in hot pants. - SavannahPropane ToysHow to do it wrong:

Or they acquire really horrible injuries that we'd rather not think about. The kind of injuries that result in colostomy bags. Preferable to the alternative (Death by Sepsis--too bad Agatha Christie never wrote that!), but not all flowers and sunshine.

The Lady with a Lamprey

"The powerful are exploiting people, art and ideas, and this leads to us plebes debating how to best ration ice.Man, no wonder they always win....." Lonesomebri

theCryptofishist wrote:Or they acquire really horrible injuries that we'd rather not think about. The kind of injuries that result in colostomy bags. Preferable to the alternative (Death by Sepsis--too bad Agatha Christie never wrote that!), but not all flowers and sunshine.

Oh dear.

I used solar pathway lights and grouped the rebar for my shade and tent together as best as I could.

When I was packing the camp at the end, the rebar was exposed briefly. I warned my neighbors about them so no one would impale themselves or something. It didn't seem necessary, but how lame would that be to go the whole week with no problems only to puncture oneself the last day?

I'm considering land mines this time.

"I knew it was wrong, but I did it anyway."Jesus fuckhole, what the fuck was that?"Playa dust might be the cleanest, most corrosive filth you'll ever love," Savannah said.

We used Harbor Freight orange ratchet ties one year, 2010, and every one if them failed. The nylon frayed anywhere it touched anything else, including their own connectors. In addition the ratchting mechanism failed under any kind of side to side vibration. At most I would use these for non-load bearing tie downs.

You have to pay attention to the load bearing capacity of the ties. A ratchet tie that read 800 lbs may have a working strength half that or less. The 10,000 model I use has a working load strength a third that. The harbor Freight orange ones have a working load capacity of only 400 lbs. The winds get much harder than that if they get under your roof and try to turn it into a sail.

For the money I recommend the following. They are cheaper and stronger than harbor freight's version. And believe me nothing the playa can throw at us wil cause these to fail.

thermal blankets are made with a loose weave that has holes in it like crochet. When placed under another blanket the air pockets in the blanket weave form a thermal barrier to the cold. Search the web for cotton thermal blakets to see them. Scour your local thrift stores to find them cheap. Any cotten woven blanket that lets light through will work. I attach them to my shade structure and each other with with zip ties they let through light and the breeze while cutting down the dust dramatically.

Last year I made a "wall" with an extra tarp to keep the sun out and keep my camp a little cooler. If it's actually windy this year, that may be too much stress on the frame of my shade. However the shade doesn't have completely vertical walls, so maybe the wind will blow over it or around it. The damn thing held up to a coastal gale (blowing sand, wind-driven rain. EVERYTHING ferrous and uncoated rusted overnight)

"I knew it was wrong, but I did it anyway."Jesus fuckhole, what the fuck was that?"Playa dust might be the cleanest, most corrosive filth you'll ever love," Savannah said.

zifra wrote:I ran into a lovely gentleman last year who was there to lay the groundwork for his large group to come this year. I asked him what he thought so far...he was quiet for a moment and then said "you people really overbuild!". Of course after we laughed for several minutes we explained to him the amazing weather he was experiencing was in no way normal.

Do not be fooled by last year. The playa can be a mean hostess! Plan for high winds, dust storms and even rain. Maybe if we plan for the worst, we will get another banner year like 2011.

See you in the city!

Zifra

I don't believe in overbuilding. It's being prepared.

"I knew it was wrong, but I did it anyway."Jesus fuckhole, what the fuck was that?"Playa dust might be the cleanest, most corrosive filth you'll ever love," Savannah said.